MM…FOODS

Beef, Cakes, One Beer, Gumbo, Queso and Knishes, an odd combination for a meal. However, it’s the perfect combination for an amazing album. MF DOOM combines food puns, samples from old cartoons and creative wordplay to build his most iconic album MM..FOOD.

The first song of the album Beef Rap starts off with a conversation from the 1983 movie “Wild Style” followed by another conversation from the 1942 horror movie “Bowery at Midnight. A total of six skits in total proceed the first verse; the majority of songs on this album start with samples from various 20th century movies and TV it’s DOOM’s signature and sets the tone for the rest of the album.

The song starts out with DOOMs iconic flow which is reminiscent of a Dr Seuss book. He leads with creative lyrics about eating beef and the effects it would have on your health such as “Beef rap, could lead to getting teeth capped or even a wreath for mom dukes on some grief crap” and “I suggest you change your diet It can lead to high blood pressure if you fry it.”  His topic choice while unconventional is backed up by his delivery and his rhyming skills. For example, in the lines “He wears a mask just to cover the raw flesh” and “A rather ugly brother with flows that’s gorgeous,” he rhymes cover with brother and raw flesh with gorgeous demonstrating his creativity when it comes to stringing rhymes together. DOOM devours the first song on his album starting off strong showing his undeniable skills.

Another highlight of this album and the song that got the whole rap world calling DOOM your favorite rappers favorite rapper Rap Snitch Knishes is next on the menu. Featuring Mr. Fantastik, this song talks about rappers telling on themselves in their music. The song starts off strong with the lyric, “Rap snitches, telling all their business sit in the court and be their own star witness,” reiterating the aforementioned point that rappers often tell on themselves, and self-incriminate in their music leading to them getting themselves and the people around them locked up.

Mr. Fantastik’s verse continues to talk about this “Rap Snitch” but from the perspective of someone who’s a well-respected gangster who gets involved with this “Rap snitch” and ends up locked up. Mr. Fantastik starts by setting up his character establishing Mr. Fantastik as a respected and reliable individual in the streets. The verse continues recounting what the “Rap Snitch’s” testimony that ends up getting Mr. Fantastik and his company locked up.

According to Lyric Genuis, the line “According to him, when the D’s rushed in,” refers to the Drug Enforcment Administration or DEA who are infamous for conducting drug raids. The rest of the verse involves the “Rap Snitch” doing what he does best, snitching; from wearing a wire to causing his man to “go up north” meaning going to jail due to the rap snitch’s cooperation with the police.

There’s only one song left to discuss, one of my personal favorite songs off this album and the song that I discovered MF DOOM from One Beer. The song starts with the now iconic intro  “I get no kick from champagne Mere alcohol doesn’t thrill me at all so tell my why shouldn’t it be true? I get a kick out of brew” which is an interpolation from Cole Porter’s “I Get A Kick Out Of You” a creative sample only DOOM would think to use and acts as a perfect intro to the first verse. Song verse one starts off with “There’s only one beer left Rappers screaming all in our ears like we are deaf ” a light jab at rappers of the snap/crunk era when hip hop was at its loudest a notable example being Lil Jon with his famous “YEAAA” adlibs. DOOM continues to flex his rhyming abilities with the lines

“…Soon as he wake up choking like it was whooping cough

The group been soft

First hour at the open bar and they’re trooping off”

DOOM utilizes a rhyming technique known as slant rhymes using words that sound similar but aren’t identical to construct his verses creating a unique flow with a wide variety of words. To this day MF DOOM’s rhyming ability is unparalleled as to this day no rapper alive thinks the way he did. The song ends with a skit from the 1981 Spiderman animated cartoon from the episode “Doctor Doom, Master Of The World” which ties in perfectly with MF DOOM’s name.

As an album, MM…Food is an excellent showcase of MF DOOM’s strongest points and acts as an amazing entry level album for anyone wanting to get into MF DOOM’s discography. The three songs discussed in this article are only the tip of the iceberg as the album contains countless gems such as: Hoe Cakes, Deep Fried Frenz, Kookies and Potholderz with Count Bass D.